Watch: Obama speaks at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park

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Watch: Obama speaks at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park

Hiroshima, Japan - Obama is commenting after he became the first sitting US president to visit Hiroshima. He laid a wreath near the base of the memorial.

By AP

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Published: Fri 27 May 2016, 4:29 PM

Last updated: Sat 28 May 2016, 10:26 AM

President Barack Obama says the world has a shared responsibility to ask how to prevent the suffering that took place in Hiroshima 70 years ago from happening again.
Obama is speaking at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park alongside Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (shin-zoh ah-bay). Obama says the memory of Aug. 6, 1945, "must never fade." He's referring to the day the U.S. dropped the atomic bomb on the western Japanese city.

Obama says the memory allows the world to fight complacency and fuels a common moral imagination. He's also calling for a reduction in nuclear stockpiles and a move toward a world without nuclear weapons.
Obama is commenting after he became the first sitting US president to visit Hiroshima. He laid a wreath near the base of the memorial.
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5:30 p.m.
President Barack Obama has arrived at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park on a historic visit to the city where the US dropped the first atomic bomb.
Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (shin-zoh ah-bay) entered the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, where Obama is expected to sign a guest book. While at the park, Obama will also lay a wreath and deliver brief remarks.
He is now the first sitting US president to make the trip that his predecessors have avoided. Some 140,000 people were killed when President Harry Truman unleashed the nuclear weapon in August 1945 in the closing days of World War II.
Obama will not apologize or second-guess Truman's decision. Nor will he dissect Japan's aggression in the war.Obama instead will acknowledge the devastating toll of war and encourage the world to do better.
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5 p.m.
Barack Obama is the first sitting US president to visit the hallowed ground of Hiroshima, site of the world's first atomic bomb attack.
Obama arrived in Hiroshima after addressing U.S. and Japanese troops at nearby Marine Corps station.
Obama will pay tribute to the 140,000 people who were killed 70 years ago when the U.S. dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima in the final days of World War II. During brief remarks, he's likely to also pitch his vision of a nuclear weapons-free world.
Obama will not apologize for the decision to use a nuclear weapon. Instead, he plans to acknowledge the devastating toll of war and couple it with a message that the world can - and must do - better.
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4:15 p.m.
President Barack Obama says his visit to Hiroshima will be an opportunity to honor the memory of all those lost during World War II.
Obama is visiting US and Japanese troops at Iwakuni air station just before traveling to nearby Hiroshima for the first visit by a sitting U.S. president. He says his historic visit is a chance to reaffirm a commitment to pursuing a world where nuclear weapons are no longer necessary.
The president says his visit is a testament to how even the most painful divides can be bridged. He says it shows how former adversaries Japan and the U.S. can become not just partners but the best of friends and strongest of allies.
Obama is also praising the troops for their sacrifices to ensure the security of people around the world. He says the world mustn't forget to honor those who have given everything for freedom.
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3:30 p.m.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (shin-zoh ah-bay) says President Barack Obama's visit to Hiroshima will give a "big boost" to efforts to achieve a nuclear-free world.
Abe says what happened in Hiroshima should never be repeated.
Some 140,000 people were killed in Hiroshima near the end of World War II when the US dropped at atomic bomb on the western Japanese city.
It was the first such attack anywhere in the world.
Obama will become the first sitting US president to visit Hiroshima's hallowed ground on Friday.
Abe commented at the conclusion of a summit of world leaders in Shima, Japan.
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12:30 p.m.
Hiroshima's peace memorial park is being cleared of visitors in preparation for President Barack Obama's visit.
But there were plenty of morning visitors to the park, and all had their own reasons for coming.
Kinuyo Ikegami, who is 82, came to light incense and chant a prayer.
Long lines of schoolchildren took turns bowing and praying beside her.
Retiree Tsuguo Yoshikawa took a walk in the park, and said it's time for the US and Japanese people to move forward without grudges.
Tokyo actor Kanji Shimizu says he wishes a US president could have come earlier. But he's glad that the time has come. He's hoping Obama's visit will help promote world peace.


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